SHANE McGRATH CALLS FOR MORE TRUST AND LESS MOANING
MICHAEL GOVE is the senior British politician who shamed himself in defence of Dominic Cummings. Gove is one of Boris Johnson’s point men on delivering Brexit, so the splendid efficiency of that operation speaks to his abilities. He was asked last week if he had ever driven to test his eyesight.
This was the risible excuse given by Cummings for driving 30 miles to a tourist attraction near his parents’ house, where he was supposed to be isolating in case he had Covid-19.
‘I have on occasions in the past, driven with my wife in order to make sure that, ah, ah, what’s the right way to put this?’ he stuttered, before leaving the finish to expire in agony and announcing instead that he was not an authority on driving.
Gove is much more famous for stating, during the Brexit campaign, that people ‘have had enough of experts’.
This was in response to a question asking him to name economists who supported Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union.
In the years since, Gove has tried to reinterpret that comment, insisting it wasn’t a flat rejection of expertise.
It sounded awfully like it, and that approach, prioritising feeling over thinking, has characterised four years of Brexit calamities.
One of the quiet triumphs of the response to Covid-19 in this country has been an attitude among the public which has respected policy shaped by public health experts.
Their informed guidance has been accepted by the great majority of people. And on a Bank Holiday weekend when the sun splits the stones and the fraying resolve among many becomes even looser, most of the population continue to trust the expertise that has kept most people safe and well. The official approach from now on seems certain to be less certain, as imperatives other than those to do with public health are given more consideration.
However, one very important section of Irish society is resolved to maintain an approach informed by the best advice and that will remain cautious.
The past week has seen this policy by the GAA attract increasing criticism, and much of it has been Gove-like in its nature. There are many within the GAA commentariat who assume the audiences they command as pundits are also content to sit quietly while they pronounce on the need for a speedier reopening of Ireland.
What’s wrong with a few heading to the local pitch and kicking a ball about, these libertarian pundits wonder? That the GAA have repeatedly advised insurance will not cover such activities is ignored.
These freedom fighters talk about the low infection rate with the enthusiasm they usually reserve for a Stephen Cluxton kick-out or a David Clifford finish.
The GAA has remained unmoved. The statement they issued on Friday will allow clubs to open a crack, with a decision made to reopen walking tracks which are a feature around some pitches – should the country move successfully to phase two of the Government road map on June 8.
Other than that, the policy remains deliberate and in step with the designations included in the road map.
‘We re-affirm our position that no one is keener to return to games and general games-related activity, but this will only be considered when it is acceptable to do so to maximise the safety and well-being of our players, members and wider society,’ their comments concluded.
This position has been attracting criticism for days now, but in reasserting it so clearly, the association makes plain that no change is imminent.
Arguments against this policy rely greatly on anecdotal evidence of groups gathering in public parks and any spare patch of grass to hold impromptu training sessions anyway.
These apparent instances are not as widespread as is being claimed, and in any case they do not justify unlocking the gates and letting players stream back in. Who would decide what players get priority? Who would police the reopening of pitches? What would constitute a group?
The logistical difficulties posed by this approach are obvious, and that is before the wisdom of eschewing the advice of health experts is considered.
Optimism is slowly growing that there could be a resumption in competitive GAA activity before October, with the role of data in gauging the exposure of players to close contact said to be especially important.
All sporting bodies now realise that quantifiable evidence is the currency in which health officials deal.
Special pleading is making no impression, with either State experts or the GAA authorities.
When pitches do re-open, it will be as a result of science, not whinging.